A Devilish Plan
by Athelassa
Summary: Nix has a devilish plan: getting Dick drunk on V-E Day. Will he succeed? What is the outcome? No slash, only friendship. Now complete.
1. Chapter 1

**A Devilish Plan**

**Rating:** T (just to be safe)

**Disclaimer:** The characters don't belong to me. I am focusing on the fictionalized characters of HBO and hope no one will take offence with this story. It was created purely for fun, I do not receive any money for it.

**Summary:** Nix has a devilish plan: getting Dick drunk on V-E Day. Will he succeed? What is the outcome? No slash, only friendship.

**Author's Note: **First, I'm not a native English speaker, there will be mistakes. No matter how many times I go through the text, there still are mistakes. Sorry for that. Second, hard to believe, but I only discovered "Band of Brothers" about three months ago. So I'm new to the fandom. Third, I haven't written fanfiction for ages, but it's fun to be back. :-) Fourth, this story will be only about three chapters long. I've got it planned until the end, so I'm definitely going to finish it.

Criticism is always appreciated.

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"All for me?"

Nix stared incredulously at the never-ending rows of liquor and wine stashed in the room, trying to count the shelves, but giving up after a short while. Göring must have had an even bigger obsession with alcohol than he had. Who would have thought that even possible?

Dick just smiled that small smile of his as an answer, already turning on his heels and intending to leave Nix to the "gift" he gave him.

"O'Keefe?", Nix called out to the private on duty, who was timidly waiting on the doorstep. "I've got a task for you. Find me some Vat 69 bottles in all this booze. It might take days to find it for one man alone."

At this, Dick turned around and rolled his eyes at Nix.

"Come on, you can't employ him to find your liquor for you."

"Why not? We have peace now, and soldiers still need solid tasks in peace time. Just trying to keep him out of trouble by keeping him occupied", Nix answered lazily, slowly walking down the shelves.

Dick just snorted and addressed O'Keefe, "Private, you don't have to do this. Just grab some bottles for yourself and your friends. You're off duty now."

O'Keefe had followed the conversation wide-eyed and now hesitantly took some steps towards the shelves.

"Isn't this against regulations?", he asked shyly, not being able to look the Major into the eyes. "I don't think we are supposed to drink alcohol right now."

"Didn't you hear him?", Nix clipped in helpfully, while inspecting a bottle he had pulled out of a shelf, "you're off duty."

"O'Keefe, it's fine", Dick tried to reassure him as best as he could. "This is a day for celebrations. You contributed to that, so don't worry about regulations and just enjoy yourself."

"Yes, sir", Private O'Keefe answered. He grabbed some bottles without really looking at them and hurried out of the door.

Dick looked after him, forehead all wrinkled right up to his red hair.

"Am I somehow scaring him?", he finally asked his friend, disbelieving.

Snorting, Nix answered, "Well, your holiness and righteousness, not to forget your constant sobriety can be scaring sometimes for us lower folks. Try and loosen up, Dick, and the men would certainly be more at ease around you. Maybe you should take your own advice and celebrate today. There are reasons, world peace and all that crap."

With that, Nix opened the bottle of whiskey and took a deep swig. It was not Vat 69, but it burned down his throat very nicely and warmed his belly. Yes, that stuff was good. Then, for the hundredth time, he held out the battle to Dick, thinking his friend would refuse, like he did the last ninetynine times before. All the bigger surprise when Dick actually accepted the bottle, looking at it sceptically, as if it would jump at his throat at any moment.

"Maybe I should", his friend murmured slowly, still staring at the bottle, then suddenly taking a swig from it. Nix did not believe his eyes, Dick was actually drinking! Sputtering and coughing, his friend lowered the bottle, all red in the face.

"How can you drink that?", he asked breathlessly, shoving the bottle back into Nix's hand. "This tastes like pure poison!"

Nix just laughed.

"Believe me, it gets better with every draft. Try again."

He gave the bottle back to a very doubtful looking Dick, who – surprise again! – took it back. After taking a smaller sip this time, his friend shook his head, resolutely shoving the bottle away from him.

"No really, I can't understand what you see in this. And it has not gotten any better the second time around."

While Dick still scrunched up his face because of the taste of the alcohol he had just drunk, a plan was forming into Nix's mind. If there had ever been a chance to get his friend drunk, it was right now. Dick was just too virtuous for his own good, so the only way to get him to drink would be to make him think it was the proper thing to do. Like now. Everyone would think that celebrations are connected to drinking.

"That's it, Lew", Dick said, again making an attempt to leave. "I'll leave you to your liquid friends. Just don't overdo it, Sink expects us back and working by tomorrow afternoon."

Right now, Nix saw his clever plan dissolving into air, so he called after Dick, "Hey, wait a moment! I know why you didn't like your drink. We went at this all wrong. Whiskey isn't really the proper drink for celebrations. We need to have champagne! You'll like it."

"Nix, really", Dick answered impatiently, but he had at least stopped walking. "I've got things to do. And you know, for a nondrinker I drank already too much today."

Nix, who had been swiftly searching the shelves for champagne, pulled out a dusty bottle that looked very expensive and very good.

"Here, I have it!", he exclaimed, coming back to Dick. "This is a bottle of Krug collection, which translates to you: the best and most expensive champagne you'll ever drink. You can't miss out on a chance to share it with me."

"I'm good, thank you very much", Dick replied curtly.

"Dick", Nix tried again, putting to work both his dark puppy eyes and a slight rich-kid-always-gets-what-he-wants whine, "you're my best friend. Probably the only true friend I've ever had. Together we just survived the most devastating war the world has ever seen. You know I respect your sense of responsibility and your attitude towards drinking. But this here is different, we'll never win a World War again, hopefully!"

After a short break, Nix added his last trump, "Today you should discard your aloofness and step down to the level of your men, the very men that even made this peace possible. Honour them by celebrating with them and like them."

Now Nix could only wait and hope. There were two possibilities, either Dick would just laugh it all up and tell him not to be silly, or he would...

"I'm not aloof", Dick answered slowly and indignantly.

Yes, he had taken the bait! Nix almost cheered to himself, but he knew he needed to tread carefully now. One wrong move and his skittish prey would flee into the woods.

"I know you're not", Nix said, opting for an earnest tone. "But you sometimes come across as a bit standoffish. You never make mistakes and you never let your guard down, it can be intimidating and lead to wrong assumptions, you know."

"This is the way officers should behave", Dick told him in such an upright tone that made Nix even more resolute in his plan of getting him drunk.

"Well, let's not think about that for today. We earned ourselves this break, let's just enjoy it", Nix declared, and popped the cork of the champagne. A stream of golden liquid flew from the bottle and Nix wanted to waste as few of the precious wine as possible. He drank a generous amount first, then giving the bottle to Dick.

"To peace!", Nix pronounced and lifted his own bottle of whiskey to clink glasses.

"To peace", Dick murmured and drank. There was no sputtering this time from his red-haired friend, so Nix concluded that he liked the champagne better than the whiskey.

Dick wanted to put the champagne down on the small table, but Nix did not give him the chance.

"To our friendship!", he toasted again, lifting his bottle of whiskey. Dick gave him a dark look, but obediently clinked bottles and drank again.

"That's enough, Nix, I'm not drinking anymore", Dick stated. Was there already a slight slur to his speech? Nix could not be sure. However, he was sure that he could not let his friend escape that easily.

"To Easy company!", he brought out another toast, but this time Dick refused to clink bottles.

"Come on, Dick, you can't reject a toast on your men, how would that look?", Nix goaded, still holding out his whiskey.

"There's no one else here", Dick stated with raised eyebrows. "So I guess no one could complain."

"You hurt me, my friend", Nix exclaimed dramatically. "I'm here and I'm Easy company, too."

Dick grumbled something to himself, then clinked bottles and drank. Nix had to hide his smile behind the bottle. Since he was now standing between the table and Dick, his friend had to bend over to put his bottle to the ground in order to finally get rid of the alcohol. To Nix's satisfaction, Dick had to take a slight misstep to right himself when coming up again. Without a word, his friend left him where he was and walked to the door.

Just as Nix was about to give up all his plans of intoxicating Major Holy any further, Harry, Speirs and Lipton came through the door. Speirs was leaning heavily on Lipton and Harry's grin was far too sloppy to be sober.

"Hey, my dear friends!", Harry exclaimed, taking in all the booze with big eyes, "I knew you were hiding something. This place is sick! And you were trying to keep it all to yourselves! Not very comradely of you!"

"Nah, I hope there are no hard feelings", Nix answered with a grin. "Ranking officers have the privilege of serving themselves first, so to say our 'ius primae noctis'. But since Dick is about to leave on some very important business, more important than to be together with his friends on such a memorable day, I can use your company very well."

Dick shot him another one of his dark looks, murmuring something about "these rich brats" and "pity his parents".

"Did you say something, Dick?", Nix asked, trying hard not to laugh at his friend's exasperated look. It seemed like peace time wore harder on Dick's nerves than war time.

"No, I didn't", Dick answered, now definitely with a fine slur to his words. "I just have to be somewhere, I'm sure. Off... or so."

His behaviour now attracted Harry's attention, who approached him carefully.

"Wait, wait, wait", Harry said, eyeing Dick closely. "You, my friend, are tipsy. You've been drinking."

"I'm not tipsy", Dick denied vehemently, shaking his head with a little more force than necessary. "I'm perfectly normal."

"Yeah, he drank whiskey and champagne with me", Nix clipped in helpfully. "Seems like it was already a bit too much."

Dick's protestations went under among the shocked gasp of Speirs, who was waking a bit from his stupor, and Harry's exclamations of "I knew it!". Only Lipton remained silent, smiling beatifically to himself.

"But what really hurts me, Dick", Harry finally declared in a wounded tone, "is that you resolutely refused to drink with me some hours ago, but now chose to drink with rich boy here. Is it just our company that wasn't good enough or was it the expensive booze?"

Nix could have kissed him for that remark. His plan was not totally disbanded yet, since there were new players in the game now, who seemed to be on his side.

"I didn't want to drink in the first place, he talked me into it", Dick tried to defend himself, looking at Nix accusingly. "And if it makes you feel better, I'll drink with you, too. It'll show you I'm not drunk."

In the blink of an eye, Nix shoved the champagne back into Dick's hand, while the other went through the shelves, looking for their own favourite liquor.

"To Toccoa!", Nix toasted, when everyone had a bottle at hand.

"To Toccoa!", Speirs, Lipton and Dick responded, then drinking.

"Wait!", Harry complained. "You all know I wasn't in Toccoa. To Victory in Europe!"

"To Victory in Europe!"

After some more toasts, from D-Day and Holland to their survival of the English food in Aldbourne and Colonel Sink's mustache, Nix saw that Dick had almost emptied his bottle.

"I think I need to sit down for a moment", his friend murmured and sloppily sat down at the table. All the fight against more drinking and his excuses of having to be somewhere else had fallen away. Nix had seen him drinking even in between the toasts. Seemed like his friend finally took a liking to it.

The other followed Dick's example and sat down at the table as well.

"Dick", Harry slurred and clapped Dick's back, "no way in hell I'm going to believe you're not drunk. But I think it suits you well, makes you more likeable. Not all aloof and stuff anymore. No offense... Ah, what I wanna say, you're just a good drinking buddy, that's all."

"Ah, shut up, Welsh", Speirs said finally, trying to weave a finger in Harry's direction. "He's fine when he's drinking, and fine when he's not drinking. Just a fine officer, so stop your blabbering."

"Aye, aye, Captain", Harry mock-saluted to Speirs, and for one moment Nix was not sure if he went too far with Speirs, but the Captain had already withdrawn in his very own world of drunken stupor again and did not react anymore.

"Hey, I've got an idea", Lipton piped in, looking at least partly sober. "We should go to the V-E Day party they're holding in the hotel hall of the Berchtesgadener Hof. We could bring along some of the booze for the men, they would love that. And they've got music, as far as I've heard."

"Sounds good to me", Nix answered and Harry nodded his approval. "You're coming, too, Dick."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea", Dick protested slowly. "I'm feeling a bit dizzy, maybe I should go and lie down for a while."

"No, Dick, believe me, the dizziness just gets worse as soon as you lie down", Nix explained patiently, as if to a small child. "Now you're coming to the nice part of this all. Just enjoy it, you'll have music, company and some more drinking. And besides, you should congratulate the men to their victory personally."

Dick just sighed.

"I'm not going to have a say in this anyway, have I?"

"Nope", Nix smiled.

"Then let's go!", Harry prompted.

- TBC -


	2. Chapter 2

_Many thanks to beth-rodrigues.77 and__ link55-06 for your kind reviews, you really made my day and helped me write this story more quickly._

_This chapter is a bit shorter than the last one. However, there will most certainly be four chapters instead of the planned three. _

_Hope you enjoy!_

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The sun just set when the five officers reached the Berchtesgadener Hof. Already from outside the noble hotel they could hear music, singing and laughter.

Nix took the lead while going inside, followed by Speirs, who was again able to walk under his own power, then Harry and Lipton, who each carried a crate filled with the best Göring had to offer. Last came Dick, and Nix was a bit worried about him bolting at the first occasion, but at the moment he was still with them.

Inside, they were greeted by a partying Easy company, well in their cups and halfway there to ruin the luxurious hall of the once famous Nazi hotel. Nix was surprised to see women dancing with the men and wondered about who had smuggled them in here.

"Hey, our favourite officers!", Luz came weaving through the crowd, having trouble to keep the cigarette in place in one corner of his mouth while smiling so broadly. "We already missed you!"

The Sergeant whooped loudly when he saw the new stash of alcohol Harry and Lipton had brought with them and clapped them on their backs. This raised the attention of several of the men, and they were joined by Malarkey, Perconte and some of the other Toccoa men.

"Look what they brought!", Luz shouted over the noise and showed them the assemblage of whiskey, rum, champagne and schnapps.

"Göring would like to show his appreciation for the wonderful job you've done", Nix replied lazily, while their booze was distributed among the men. "Would be nice of you guys to send him a thank-you card."

Their laughter roared through the hall, while they clinked bottles and wished each other a happy V-E Day. Suddenly, the noise died down and the men stood up a little straighter. Nix looked to his side and saw that Dick had joined them.

"Sir", Luz, Perconte and Malarkey mumbled all at the same time, looking for all the world like school boys caught in a prank.

"No need for formalities today", Dick responded rather uneasily, looking very serious and actually quite sober, when Nix thought back to the unusual amount of alcohol he had already had. Leave it to Dick to look sober even when intoxicated. "This is your day, enjoy it."

"Thank you, sir", Perconte replied, receiving an elbow from Luz into his rips. This could not disguise the fact that the mood had dropped a few degrees. An awkward silence followed, while the men shuffled their feet.

"This was a mistake", Dick told Nix in a low voice, while the men most probably looked for the quickest possible exit from this situation. "I'm spoiling their party, I should be leaving."

Just as his friend was about to turn around, Nix caught him on the shoulder.

"Oh no, you don't go just yet. They're just uncomfortable because you're all somber and grim again. Here", he handed Dick a bottle of rum, "try and wish them a happy V-E Day again."

"Rum?", Dick asked frowningly, after reading the bottle label. "Do I look like a pirate?"

"Just drink it, it doesn't make such a big difference to you, since you won't like it anyway", Nix replied, rolling his eyes. Rum was a bit gentler on the tongue, so he hoped Dick would not make such a fuss as with the whiskey. And he definitely needed something stronger than just champagne.

He heard his friend sigh deeply, twice, then Dick stepped into the circle of the Toccoa men.

"Alright, boys, let's try again", his friend said with raised voice and raised bottle. "Happy V-E Day and enjoy the party!"

The silence that followed was even denser, because everyone was looking at their Major as if dumbstruck, then suddenly they cheered loudly and clinked bottles with Dick. Nix smiled a very content smile and shouted his approval when Dick actually took a deep swig from the bottle, almost spitting it out again, receiving some friendly pats on the back from all sides. His plan was so far working fabulously.

"What I would give to have Old Bill Guarnere here and see this", Malarkey said to Perconte, half grinning and half looking wistful. "He's never gonna believe me!"

Even more men were streaming into their circle, probably being drawn to them by the racket of the cheering crowd. Nix saw Liebgott, Webster and Roe joining them, staring at the bottle in Dick's hand, then forcing his friend to drink to their health as well. Next came Shifty and Babe, then Bull and Martin. With each drink, Dick's bottle wavered a bit more in his hands. Finally, Nix saw his friend trying to escape the never-ending stream of gregarious Easy men and tracking down Luz, who was catcalling after Perconte because the small soldier had used the commotion to persuade one of the women to dance with him.

"Sergeant!", Dick called out to him, waving an unsteady hand . "I'm sure you've got something to do with all the women here."

Nix, not wanting to miss out on that conversation, had followed him and winced at the somewhat sloppy word choice of his normally quite eloquent friend. Of course Dick was right on track when he suspected Luz being responsible for the female company, but the double meaning was not lost on the Sergeant.

"Well, boss, glad you think so highly of me and my skills", Luz answered cheekily, the grin almost splitting his face.

"No, not that", Dick tried to explain, frowning and fumbling for words. "I mean, where did you find them? Or more importantly, do we have to fear restit... restricit... restrictive measures from above because of their... poi... political convictions?"

Luz just stared at Dick open-mouthed and Nix was not so sure if it was because of his friend's sudden stammer or because he really did not understand what Dick meant. Oh man, that last mouthful of rum had really messed with Dick's speaking abilities.

"He's asking if you're partying with Nazi chicks", Nix provided helpfully, deciding to take pity on Dick and the awkward conversation.

"Oh, that's what you mean!", Luz replied, while lighting another cigarette. "No, don't worry. We found them pilfering one of the houses down the street. They're just country women and actually look more than happy that the Nazis are gone. I can introduce you to one of the ladies, if you want to, sir."

Luz was looking expectantly at Dick, eyebrows raised.

"No, I... I'm good... thank you", Dick stuttered and Nix had to hide another grin behind his bottle of whiskey. This evening promised to become even more very interesting.

"Just say the word, boss, and I'll have you dancing with one of the Fräuleins in the blink of an eye", Luz offered graciously. "They sure wouldn't mind dancing with such a dashing American officer like yourself."

"That's very kind of you, George", Dick answered uncertainly. "Maybe later."

While Luz went his own way, probably waiting for his own turn with the Fräuleins, Dick turned to Nix.

"Don't you dare commenting on this", his friend warned darkly before Nix even had the chance to open his mouth.

"I wasn't going to", Nix answered innocently. "Just marvelling at this great bunch of people we had the luck of serving with. It's really heart warming how they look out for each other..."

"Just shut up, Lew", Dick replied, wiping the sweat from his brow with a corner of his sleeve. "God, it's warm in here."

Nix almost – but only almost – felt sorry for his friend. Dick swayed gently on his feet, his eyes slightly unfocused and the color of his face slowly but surly matching the color of his hair.

"Look, Harry has managed to take over a table for us", Nix said, steering Dick through the heavy crowd to the other end of the hall. "Capturing that artillery battery in Normandy sure looks like a walk in the park compared to this feat."

It was true, the hall was bursting with people, not only from Easy, but from other companies as well. The few tables had been pushed to the edges of the hall, making room for the crowd in the middle. A band, half German, half American, was playing jazz songs with all of the room swinging to the rhythm. The swastika flags had long been taken down, now being used as a kind of red carpet that led up to a big box, that was used from time to time as a pedestal to bring out toasts. The air was stuffy and cloudy from the smoke of so many Lucky Strike butts.

"Have you tasted the local beer yet?", the two friends were greeted by Harry when they sat down at the table. "It's great!"

Between Harry and Speirs was a small barrel of beer, from which they refilled their cristal glasses, former property of the hotel.

"No, thanks, I've got everything I need", Nix answered, holding up his bottle of whiskey. He liked a beer every now and then, but there was nothing compared to the good old scotch. Vat 69 came to his mind and made him wistful for a moment. Maybe he should have searched Göring's stash more carefully...

"Dick?", Harry asked.

"Huh?", came the slow, unarticulated question.

"Would. You. Like. Some. Beer?", Harry pointedly asked again.

Dick looked slowly to his half finished bottle of rum and then back to the barrel.

"I don't think I'm allow'd to, I haven't finish'd the rum yet", Dick murmured, sounding a bit lost.

"Mom and Dad won't be mad at you if there's a beer in between", Harry explained tolerantly. He filled a new cristal glass with the dark beer and placed it in front of Dick, who instantly drank from it.

"You've got no idea", Dick slurred, licking the foam from his lips. "My parents would be so mad at me. I shouldn't drink, they say. 'It's not good for you, son, it's the beginning of all evil'."

"Good thing you're an adult, then", Harry replied. "We've just won this war and your parents are half a world away. Don't worry about them. Your parents probably also told you that it's bad to kill people. Still, the world needed someone to kill the bad guys and rescue Europe. We did."

"Yeah, it's not all that bad to kill people. If they're bad", Speirs suddenly spoke up, peering through his dark hair at them with a feral look in his eyes that was only slightly ruined by the droop of his eyelids and the heavy slur.

Nix was not sure that was the right tactic to convince Dick. His friend became all quiet, eyes far away. Probably thinking of all the people he had killed during the war. Nix knew that the killing had not been easy for Dick, although his friend had never actually spoke to him about it. But he remembered the lost look on Dick's face in Holland, after shooting dozens of Germans.

All the more surprising for Nix, when Dick suddenly pulled himself out of his dreary mood and declared with a sloppy smile, "Well, at least we're still alive." Then he downed his beer under the cheers of Harry and Speirs.

That's when Nix knew that his plan had been a full success.

-TBC-


	3. Chapter 3

_Many thanks again to my two faithful reviewers, beth-rodrigues.77 and link55-06, you are awesome! _

_Here is the next chapter of the story (now even with a picture, yay!), hope you enjoy!_

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"I've got another one, I've got another one!", Dick told them in a gushing voice over the laughter, the big grin almost splitting his face. "What nationality were Adam and Eve?"

Nix looked around in their circle that had slowly grown since Lipton and Martin had joined them, and saw the Easy men shaking their heads in response to Dick's question. Speirs had passed out some time ago, head down on the table, while Harry was still working on emptying his barrel of beer.

"Anyone?", Dick asked again, grinning and waving around an unsteady hand, almost knocking over the bottle of schnapps that had miraculously found its way into his hands. "They're Soviet. No home, no property, no clothes, but they think they're in paradise!"

Harry and Martin both laughed out loud, although Nix was not so sure they were just laughing because they were both drunk almost senseless or because of the fact that no one could get Dick to stop telling jokes.

"Good one, sir", Luz said from behind Dick, having listened in, and patted him on the shoulder, big grin and cigarette in place as usual.

"Thanks, George", Dick answered straining his neck to smile into Luz's face.

"You're welcome, buddy. Cigarette?", Luz asked and patted down his chest for the packet Lucky Strikes that he always kept on him.

"No", Dick replied, trying to frown, but then opting for a grin. "I don't smoke."

"You don't drink, either", Luz replied, all smartass, looking at the empty packet in his hands. "Good thing you said no, seems like I've run out of Luck."

While the Easy Sergeant went in search of some more cigarettes, Dick looked after him with a smile on his face.

"They're such good men", Dick slurred, taking a swig from his bottle. "I've never seen such good lads b'fore. They're so... so... loyal, and... brave... and... loyal."

"Sir", Lipton spoke up, probably the only one at their table besides Nix himself to still be able to form fully coherent sentences. "Maybe you should tell them. They would love to hear such words from you. The men respect you more than anything else."

Dick made a thoughtful face, a comic parody of his usually quite serious look, then nodded enthusiastically.

"You're right!", Dick said to Lipton, smiling and taking another swig. "They should be told, what a great bunch o' people they are."

Standing up too fast, Dick knocked over his chair and had to grab the table for support, because he was swaying so badly.

"You sure that's such a good idea?", Nix asked Lipton, looking doubtful. Somehow his plan had spun a little bit out of control. "He probably won't even be able to climb the pedestal. And then someone has to make sure he doesn't fall down."

"Don't you worry, Lew", his totally wasted friend tried to reassure him, patting Nix's cheek. "I feel pre... perfectly fine. Never felt better!"

Lipton gave Nix a smile, shrugging, then together with Martin accompanied a swaying Dick to the pedestal, while Harry and Nix stayed at the table all alone, only the sleeping Speirs in between them.

"What's the matter with you, Nix?" Harry asked him while drinking his beer. "You barely spoke a word in the last hour, you're hardly drinking anymore and now you turned into a mother hen?"

"Well, I didn't have the chance to say anything because Dick was telling jokes all the time", Nix tried to make fun of the situation. But it was true, he had been unusually quiet and he was holding back drinking.

"Really?", Harry drawled, prodding for the truth.

"Someone has to keep an eye on Dick", Nix eventually admitted. "You know he's not used to drinking. I don't want him to do anything stupid and ruin all his good reputation in one evening."

"Especially when you're responsible for him drinking in the first place", Harry slyly stated, being far too quick-witted for the amount of alcohol he had already drunk. "You feeling guilty already? I thought it was a genius plan."

"Yeah, I just didn't expect it to work so nicely", Nix replied quietly, taking a small sip from his whiskey and following Dick with his eyes. His friend was only making small progress to the pedestal, being held up on the way many times, speaking and laughing with the men. And not too few times clinking glasses.

"Aw, Nix, how cute", Harry goaded, a smirk on his face. "He's fine. Probably the first time in his life he's actually enjoying himself. Look, he's all happy and smiley."

Again, Nix looked to Dick and saw him laughing so hard at something Malarkey had said to him that he had to clutch the back of a chair to stay upright. Brushing aside tears of laughter, Dick clapped Malarkey on the shoulder, then – with some considerable help from Lipton and Martin – climbed the pedestal. Once Dick was up there, Lipton had to quickly grab his arms, because his friend almost fell down backwards again. Nix winced, just hoping Dick's evening would not end with broken bones in the aid station. It might be awkward to explain to Colonel Sink.

"Uh... boys, there's something I wanted to say", Dick tried to make himself heard above the noise, but failing miserably. The band was still playing and people chattering. "Guys!" Still no success. So drunk-Dick reversed for a short moment back to Major Winters, shouting, "Listen up!"

Finally, the desired silence ensued, the band stopped playing. A grin broke through on Dick's face, showing that he was quite pleased with himself.

"Thanks, that's better", he stated, taking a swig from the schnapps. "Easy company... no... no, let's start anew. Dear friends."

There was already cheering from the ranks of the men for that, and Nix, despite himself, had to smile. He knew that Dick had always been popular among the men, but they had never treated him as chummily as, for example, Buck. Seemed like the last few hours had changed that.

"You're the best soldiers... men, I've ever had the pleasure of serving with", Dick continued, swaying dangerously on the pedestal. Luckily, Lipton still stood behind him and kept a watchful eye and hand on him.

"We're the _only_ soldiers you ever served with!", one of the men butted in cheekily, receiving some laughter for it.

"Yeah, that too", Dick grinningly acknowledged, then turned serious. Well, as serious as possible, given his inebriated state. "I'm so proud of you. You took the challenge, risked your lives, came here to Europe and won this war."

Some more cheering for that.

"With some of you I began this long journey, years ago in Toccoa. I watched you become good soldiers and good men. It's like watching your first cattle grow up. You go down to the meadows in summer and there they are. You know they'll always be there, as if waiting for you and trusting you to lead them to even greener pastures."

"Oh no, farm boy is coming through", Nix commented to Harry, cringing.

There were some whispers in the crowd, "Is he comparing us to cows?" – "I think it's meant as a compliment."

Dick's eyes took on a faraway look, probably seeing his home, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Saw maybe even his own damn cows, Nix thought, shuddering. When the silence stretched too long and some muffled laughs could be heard, Lipton loudly cleared his throat behind Dick, bringing him back into the here and now.

"... where was I?", Dick asked, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, what I wanted to say is that I'm very proud of you. Very, very proud."

He stopped again, but this time only shortly, then lifted his bottle of schnapps, at the same time turning more solemn.

"I'd like to remember at this point all the difficult situations we went through and all the good men we've lost along the way. We're different people now than when we set out from Toccoa or Aldbourne. This war has changed us, and hopefully showed us that life should be treasured. Close friends were ripped away from us, either being killed or too wounded to carry on with us. They'd deserve to be here tonight, too, but they can't."

Now the room had turned completely silent. Dick had despite his drunk condition found the right words, and Nix found himself thinking back to all they had lived through. He remembered how he had arrived at Toccoa, just a rich kid that had joined the army out of boredom. He also remembered the day when he had first met a certain red-head, standing all lanky and serious in their shared room. They had come so far and grown up so fast. He remembered the adrenaline-filled night of D-Day and the first few weeks, and the icy nights of Bastogne. When he tried really hard, he could even hear the "zing" of the bullet that had almost killed him in Holland, only sheer luck that had kept him alive. And then, just a few weeks ago, he had received the message that his wife wanted a divorce. How could he just go back, after all that had happened? It seemed like there was a lifetime between when he had left his country and the present day.

When Nix brought himself out of his reverie and looked to Dick, he saw that his friend's eyes appeared all of a sudden dangerously damp.

"Jesus, keep it together", he heard Harry mutter beside him.

"Let's remember our dead and wounded", his friend carried on, overcoming his sudden emotionality, "by celebrating tonight in their honor."

All the men were clapping and cheering, while Dick made an attempt to climb down from the box, then stopped in his tracks and turned around to the crowd again.

"Oh, and I almost forgot: Currahee!"

More cheering and an alleviating laughter, as well as a corporate "Currahee!" was the answer to Dick's speech.

"That wasn't all too bad", Harry commented, leaning back in his chair and nodding his head. "I'm sure I couldn't have given such a speech in his state."

"You couldn't do it sober, either, Harry", Nix replied lazily, lighting a cigarette. "The only time I've heard you giving a speech, you couldn't string two words together."

"That's not fair!", Harry complained. "That purple heart reception speech doesn't count! They shot me up with morphine before, I was with my thoughts somewhere in fairyland while giving that speech."

"You're in fairyland all the time", Nix quipped. "Just that usually all your daydream fairies are blond-haired, long-legged and wish to go skinny-dipping with you."

"You don't know what that fairies did to me while on morphine", Harry replied, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Nix just smiled at that. Harry was a good man, he really liked him. Big mouth, quick to irritate, but he had his heart on the right spot. Nix would probably have gone up the walls back then in England, with Dick playing poster boy for officer school and all that crap. There were times when he had been sure he would shoot himself if he had to hear just one more time how marvelous Dick was doing with everything and how everyone else should follow the example of Saint Richard. Going out with Harry and drinking a beer or two (maybe more, no need to keep a close count) at the local pub had probably saved his life back then.

Still, when it came to the things that really mattered, Dick had always been the first at his side. And the most tenacious one. When life had thrown all that shit at him, a few weeks back, his friend had been there. Dick had never been a big talker, but he had just stubbornly refused to leave Nix alone and to give up on him. It's probably what had kept him sane in all the chaos. And Nix was really grateful for that.

"What's he doing now?", Harry suddenly muttered, waking Nix from his thoughts, and pointed in the direction of the pedestal.

Nix followed his pointing and saw that Dick was chatting with one of the German women, a pretty brunette with bright eyes. His friend was telling a story, gesturing wildly all the time, probably because of the language difficulties. He need not have worried because she was giggling and giving him flirty looks anyway.

"You'll understand when you're old enough, Harry", Nix deadpanned, not letting Dick out of his eyes.

"They're probably discussing cows", Harry continued, not letting himself be goaded by Nix's comment. "I bet Dick's not even realizing she's fawning all over him and would probably satisfy his every wishes. And I really mean _every_ wish."

Nix snorted at that.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that", he answered. "I know you and everyone else in this company thinks that because he doesn't drink and doesn't smoke, he has no experience with women and is all shy about them. That's not really the case. I know for certain he had something going on with a nurse back in England. He's just not so obvious about it like you and the rest of the guys. And he's not bragging about it, another big difference to everyone else here."

Harry stared at him, then downed the rest of his beer in one gulp.

"You sure?", he asked, incredulous. "Saint Richard? I always thought he's never even discovered yet what he's got there in his pants."

"I didn't know, either, he didn't actually tell me", Nix explained, while lighting a cigarette. "I just discovered it by chance. When we left England that second time round, I went to the aid station to get some more of these air sickness pills. Just when I came out, I saw Dick leaving the barracks of the nurses behind the station, tucking in his shirt and fixing his collar. I ducked behind a car so he wouldn't see me, when a woman called out to him. A brunette stuck her head out of the window and I recognized her as one of the English nurses. Dick went back to her, kissed her and then said his goodbye. I never told him I knew about it."

"Well, well, still waters truly run deep", Harry commented slowly, refilling his glass at the beer barrel. At that moment, Speirs mumbled something to himself in his sleep and sighed deeply.

"Yeah, I know", Harry remarked wistfully, patting Speirs' cheek without actually waking him up. "It should be our turn now. I've gone much too long without laying my hands upon a nice, round ass."

"This is your chance, Harry", Nix answered, grinning slyly. "I don't think Speirs will even notice."

With a cry of outrage, Harry chucked a wine cork at a laughing Nix, who was able to duck in time.

Music started again, and Nix looked up to see Dick dancing with the brunette. Well, not actually dancing, more like stumbling in some kind of rhythm. Nix winced again. It really looked painful, to be honest, with Dick stepping on her toes all the time.

They did not even make it through the first song. The music was a bit too fast and Dick more than a little too drunk, and he spun her around with way too much force. Suddenly, the woman stumbled and Dick was too slow to react, stumbling along with her. For one moment, they teetered on the edge of falling, then they both crashed with full force onto a table, that collapsed under their weight. The racket of wood splintering and glass breaking was deafening.

"What happen'd?", Speirs asked befuddled, jolting up, but sinking back down before anyone had the chance to answer.

Silence followed, and Nix got up, sighing.

"Alright, I think it's time to get Dick to bed, before he demolishes the whole place", he said to Harry, then made his way through the hall to the crash site of his friend.

A small circle had gathered around Dick and the brunette, the men making sure no one had got hurt. When Nix arrived there, he could see that his friend was still lying on the collapsed table, the woman on top of him. Even now the perfect gentleman, Nix thought, cushioning the fall for his lady. Dick made no move to get up, looking rather comfortable where he was lying.

"You all right?", Nix could hear him asking the woman slowly.

The brunette nodded and then started laughing, prompting Dick to laugh with her. Nix, relieved that they were unhurt, released the breath he was holding and with the tension broken, his foxy friend used the opportunity to pull down the brunette and kiss her deeply. Another cheer, for the upteenth time this evening, erupted from their small circle, not at least bothering the couple in their middle.

Nix had the decency to wait until his friend was done sucking face, although it took forever, until he approached the two of them and kneeled down beside them, mindful of the shards lying around everywhere.

"Riiiiight, Dick, be glad the owner of this hotel is the loser of this war or you might be paying for repairs until the end of your days", Nix remarked, while giving the brunette a hand up, which she took gratefully. By the way she swayed, she was well into her cups, too.

"Just lost my footing... Could've happened to anyone...", Dick replied, then chuckled to himself. He was still lying where he had fallen, blinking lazily up at Nix and the pretty brunette, who started giggling at that.

"Come on, Don Juan, I can hear your bed calling", Nix tried to get his friend to move, extending a hand.

"What's it saying?", Dick slurred, grinning.

"Get up, smartass, now."

"I don't wanna leave", Dick replied, now adopting a whiny tone. Christ, he sounded like a five-year-old when he was mopey. Just the pouting was missing. At least Dick accepted the hand and let himself be pulled up by Nix, who kept a steadying hand on him.

"Sir, if the Major wants to stay, just let him enjoy the party some more. We'll keep an eye on him", Bull spoke up from behind, voicing the opinion of the other Easy men around him.

The situation was so absurd that Nix almost laughed out loud. Here he was, designated party pooper of the evening, because he was for once trying to do the _responsible _thing and get a drunk-as-fuck-Dick to bed. But no, the boys were getting protective of his friend, taking his side and making this all the more difficult. Two against one. Good thing Nix had never really cared for odds.

"Look, boys", Nix drawled, trying his best I'm-an-officer-and-you-better-crawl-in-the-dirt-before-me-tone, "you won't have to lead a battalion tomorrow. He does, ok? So lay off, drink your booze, play some Monopoly or do whatever you do when you're not shooting people. He's coming with me."

Nix heard some grumbling among the men, but nobody dared to speak up and they slowly took some steps backwards, giving them a bit more space. Now to the more difficult obstacle.

"I'm staying, Lew", Dick declared, swaying on his feet. "You know what? Maybe _you_ should try and loosen up."

That was a dirty move of his friend, throwing his own words back into his face. But two could play that game.

"Well, Dick, _you_ told me not to overdo it, because we have a meeting tomorrow afternoon", Nix replied smoothly. "If you carry on drinking like that, you'll not function at all tomorrow. If you even survive to see the sunrise."

"I'm fine", his friend stated, although tiredness had crept into his voice, the fight slowly going out of him. He dragged a hand across his forehead, leaving a bloody smear on his face. Nix quickly looked for the source of the bleeding and saw that Dick had cut his hand in the fall.

"You're bleeding", Nix pointed out, reaching for the injured hand and pressing a napkin on the wound.

"Oh", Dick just said, looking at his hand, but having some difficulty bringing it into focus. "I didn't even notice. It doesn't hurt."

Nix chuckled and then looked into the sweaty face of his wasted friend.

"No shit. Trust me, alcohol is quite a good anesthesia. For bodily and mental hurts."

Dick gave him a lopsided grin in return and watched, while Nix examined and bandaged the wound as well as he could.

"Maybe you'll need stitches", Nix declared, not liking the way the cut bled through the makeshift bandage. "But first you need a bed. Say goodbye to your Fräulein and your friends."

Dick nodded obediently and waved to the Easy men, receiving a very last cheer from his men and a smack on the lips from the brunette, then they left the party, Dick's uninjured arm slung across Nix's shoulder.

-TBC-


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks for your wonderful reviews, beth-rodrigues.77, link55-06 and BatOutOfHell-Madness! You keep my muse going and help me post this story more quickly._

_Good news for everybody who thought this would be the last chapter of this story, there's another one coming up. So here we go with the second to last chapter. This is what you get for drinking, Dick. :-)_

_If you plan on leaving me a review, it would be so nice of you to do it now (well, you're allowed to read the new chapter first, of course...), because I would absolutely love to hear what you guys think about it. But it's not like I'm groveling before you or something... Well, not really... Maybe a tiny little bit... Okay, I'm begging for reviews. Duh. You made me say it... :-)_

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So that's what it feels like, Nix thought when he stepped out of the hotel, dragging Dick with him and carrying quite a lot of his friend's weight on his own shoulders. Usually, he was the one receiving help walking, because he was too wasted to put one foot in front of the other. And normally it was Dick giving him that help. So it was rather strange to have them change places for once.

"You know, Lew", Dick slurred, "you're a really good friend. It's so dark and I'm sure... I'd never find our billet on my own."

This confession, especially coming from Dick, made Nix smile.

"First, the dark thing is called night", he replied, tongue-in-cheek, "and it mostly happens when you go to a party. And second, I thought that's what friends are there for. Guiding you home when you're too drunk to make it on your own. Well, at least that's what you did for me all the time."

Nix's answer made Dick stop and pause. The silence stretched and Nix became aware of the warm spring evening and the slight breeze ruffling the fresh leaves. There were some stars, but no moon, which was the reason why Dick had a point and this night was exceptionally dark. In the distance they could still hear the laughter and music from the Berchtesgadener Hof, but otherwise the night was completely silent, the street all empty.

"You're such a good friend, Lew", Dick slowly repeated, mumbling, and patted Nix's cheek with the hand slung around his friend's shoulder.

"Thanks, Dick", Nix answered, smirking in the dark, "I hope you'll still say that tomorrow morning."

But his friend was too far gone to make sense of what Nix had said.

"You know", Dick continued, stumbling, "I probababe... probably wouldn't have come so far without you. You were... you are the rock, the one thing... person that never changed. I couldn't have taken up such a responsibility if I hadn't been able to speak to you in the evenings, as a friend... just talking normal things... cars, stuff... or just joking around. That made me feel human again, after ordering... so many killings... theirs... ours."

When Dick's voice trailed off, Nix could not help himself, the words moved him. He knew that his friend was just drunkenly rambling on, but he also realized that Dick was telling the truth, the alcohol getting him to open up about these delicate matters. Never one to talk more than necessary, his friend had not spoken much about his troubles in war or his feelings, while Nix on the other hand had always spilled everything that had upset him right in front of Dick. And now Dick had said that he needed him, had always needed him! Strong, independent Dick actually needed erratic and faulty Nix. A warm and fuzzy feeling spread throughout his body.

"Aw, I love you, too, Dick", Nix answered jokingly, trying to make light of the comment, but having quite a hard time keeping his voice level.

"I just wanted to tell you that", Dick replied slowly, lurching in his steps and being righted again by Nix.

They staggered on in the streets of the small town, dimly illuminated by the lights in the windows, steering towards their billet at the very end of the street, when Dick suddenly leaned more heavily onto Nix, almost dragging the both of them down.

"Come on, could you at least try staying upright?", Nix grunted, the weight slowly crushing him.

"I think I need to sit down for a moment", Dick replied, sounding faint.

"No, you need to get into bed and sleep it off", Nix answered briskly, but his friend was almost dead weight by now and so he had no other choice but to steer towards the low stone wall that separated the street from the private grounds and gardens. Wheezing, Nix lowered Dick down to sit on the wall, dropping down beside him.

"Jesus, I can't carry you all the way, you're much too heavy for that, so it would be great of you to help me here", Nix complained, massaging his neck.

But his friend stayed completely silent, cradling his head in his hands.

"Dick, are you alright?", Nix asked, placing a hand on Dick's shoulder.

"Everything's spinning...", his friend muttered meekly.

"Just take deep breaths", Nix advised, his hand on Dick's back feeling cold sweat breaking out. "Just relax and breathe, this will probably be over soon. Tell me if it gets worse or if you're going to be..."

Nix could not even finish the sentence before he felt Dick tense up, then his friend quickly turned around and emptied the contents of his stomach on some tulips in the garden behind them. Wincing sympathetically, Nix drew soothing circles on Dick's back, while his friend was heaving and coughing.

"It's alright, just get it out", Nix spoke comfortingly. "You'll feel better in no time. Just breathe..."

"What's going on here?", a new voice cut in sternly. Nix froze. Shit...

"Colonel Sink, sir", he began, getting up, while beside him Dick was still puking his guts out. This looked bad. "We... ah... we were just making our way back, when...eh... Dick started feeling a bit worse for the wear. Sir."

"That you, Captain Nixon?", Sink asked, coming closer. Nix could see his eyes glittering in the dim light.

"Yes, sir."

"And Major Winters?"

"Yes, sir."

In the mean time, Dick had stopped throwing up and recovered somewhat, straightening and turning towards Sink. Shit, he looked awful, Nix thought, feeling sorry for his friend and everything that had happened. This was all his fault.

"You alright, son?", Sink asked and took another step towards Dick, voice softening. The Colonel had always had a bit of a weak spot for Dick.

"Yes, dad... ahm... sir!", Dick spluttered, trying to get his bearings back, then blurting out, "I haven't been drinking!"

Nix cringed, fighting down the urge to slap his friend.

"No one said so, Major", Sink replied calmly, but frowningly.

"It's something he ate, sir", Nix backed up his friend quickly. "It didn't agree with him."

"I see", the Colonel spoke slowly, not giving away if he bought this bullshit. "Then it's probably better to get Major Winters to his billet. Carry on, Captain Nixon."

"Thank you, sir. Right away, sir", Nix replied hastily and as sudden as he had come, Sink disappeared again, going back into the house right in front of them. Only now Nix realized that the Colonel must have seen them from the house, because they had, of all the possible places, decided to take a break right in front of Sink's billet. If seen that way, Dick had just puked into the Colonel's garden, on his tulips. There would hopefully come a time when they could laugh about this together. Of course assuming that his friend would ever talk to him again, which he was not so sure of yet, after this evening.

"Come on", Nix said, slinging again an arm around Dick's shoulders and helping him stand. "We need to get moving again."

His friend just nodded, too miserable to say anything, then they set out again, making only slow progress. Finally, they reached their destination, an ancient bourgeois house at the edge of town and stepped inside, the switched on light almost blinding them after the darkness of the streets.

"We're almost there", Nix encouraged breathlessly, addressing both himself and Dick, sweating with the ordeal of dragging his friend up the steep flight of stairs to the first floor.

"I think I'm going to be sick again...", Dick muttered, swallowing heavily, his face ashen.

"Alright, just hold it in for a moment", Nix replied, picking up the pace. Instead of going for the bedroom, he hauled his friend into the bathroom and placed him in front of the toilet. Not one moment too soon, because Dick started heaving right away, clinging to the toilet as if his life depended on it.

Nix sighed exhaustedly and sat down on the edge of the bathtub. At least they had made it back. This evening turned out to be far more stressful than first imagined. Who would have thought that it was such a trial, watching Dick getting drunk? Nix was quite grateful now that his friend was normally a nondrinker, maybe this was for the best of everyone else around him.

Finally, the vomiting stopped and Dick sat back, leaning against the bathtub and looking more worn out than Nix had seen him since Bastogne. Nix got up from where he sat, flushed the toilet for his friend and went to find fresh towels and a glass of water. When he came back, Dick had drawn up his knees and buried his face in his arms, the very picture of misery. Wetting the towel and filling the glass with water, Nix kneeled down beside him.

"Here, clean your face and rinse your mouth", Nix advised gently, prying the hands away from Dick's face and looking into his friend's bloodshot eyes. "You'll feel better afterwards, I promise. It's not as if I don't know what you're going through. There was a time when I spent more nights in the bathroom, hugging the toilet, than in my bed."

Dick blinked at Nix, taking the proffered glass and rinsing his mouth, before burying his face again, this time in the wet towel. Nix sat down beside him, taking out the pocket flask that he always kept on him. Only now he realized that he had forgot to refill it back at the party and that there was only a small amount left. And his stash here in the house was already gone, which meant that he had almost run out of booze. Shrugging to himself, Nix took a sip and let some of the precious drops burn down his throat. He became conscious of the fact that this evening, he had drunk only a fraction of the amount of alcohol that he drank on a normal evening. Actually, he was totally sober, probably for the first time in weeks. This made him chuckle a bit to himself. And of course, Dick – who had always been against his heavy drinking – was responsible for it. If not in any way one of the two could have ever foreseen.

"Why...", Nix heard his friend mutter quietly, the towel muffling his words, "oh why did I even drink this much?"

"Well", Nix answered carefully, "there's certainly not a simple answer to that. Probably has something to do with V-E Day and you deciding to celebrate with your men. Seemed a brilliant idea, back then."

"Did I?", Dick asked, sounding lost and tired. "I can't remember, it's all a bit fuzzy."

Maybe there was the chance that Dick would never remember that Nix himself was responsible for him drinking. Which would certainly make things easier.

"That happens when you drink as much as you did", Nix replied helpfully. "You're not used to it and you mixed up drinks like a madman. You can't drink rum, schnapps, champagne and beer all at the same time, especially not in such quantities. That never ends happily."

"I'll never drink again", Dick groaned.

"You know what?", Nix said, grinning widely. "I've heard this words so many times before, in the same or similar setting we have here now. But you're the first person I'm actually going to believe them."

"Not funny", his friend complained weakly, trying to bury his head even further in the towel, then tensing up. Diving for the toilet, Dick started heaving again. Nix could do no more than rub his friend's back, while Dick retched and coughed. The alcoholic liquids had long been expelled from his body, leaving his friend to painful dry heaves that went on forever.

"It's fine. It'll soon be over", Nix soothed, his conscience suffering almost as much as Dick's abused stomach. "You'll be right as rain in no time at all."

When the heaves lessened and Dick lifted his head, breath hitching, Nix could see tears streaming down his face from the force of the heaves. Taking the towel and wetting it on the other side, Nix carefully wiped the face of his friend, who was too exhausted to put up a fight against this parental gesture.

"You're a mess, my friend", Nix said with a wry smile, feeling both affection for his friend and guilt battling for dominance inside him.

Dick just mumbled something incoherently in response, going back to burying his head in his arms. While Nix took out his flask again and drank a small sip, he saw that his friend was slowly relaxing, mouth going slack. Alright, if Dick was well enough to sleep, the worst part was probably over. Well, not counting the massive hangover to come in the morning, of course. Debating a moment if he should just leave his friend to rest where he was, Nix finally decided to get him to bed. Dick's head would be sore enough as it was, he would not need a sore neck and back as well. And judging from the position he slept in at the moment, this could certainly not be healthy.

"Dick?", Nix prodded softly, shaking his friend's shoulder. "Come on, wake up. You'll sleep much better in your bed."

"...'m fine...", came the mumbled response, but no other reaction.

"Look, I can carry my son to bed if he falls asleep during dinner, but you're too big for that", Nix tried again, shaking Dick more forcefully, eliciting a grunt.

"...j'st leave me...", his friend grumbled, shifting a bit.

"No, get up, you'll be grateful for it in the morning", Nix said and grabbed Dick's uninjured hand, pulling him to his feet, despite his protestations. All the way through to the bedroom, Dick mumbled complaints at Nix, not actually cursing, but coming as close to it as Nix had ever seen him.

"Here we are", Nix declared and let his friend sink down on the mattress. Dick muttered one more thing, then turned around and passed out as he was.

Nix sighed and shook his head, feeling a smile steal on his face. He kneeled down and removed Dick's shoes, then spread a blanket over the prone form of his friend. Then he went over to his own bed and sat down on it. He took out his flask again, realizing it was empty by now, and pondered if he should go back to the party to get himself some more booze. But he did not want to leave Dick alone right now, so he just pushed off his own shoes, switched off the light and went to bed.

Tomorrow would probably come fast enough as it was.

-TBC-


	5. Chapter 5

_So, this is it. The last chapter is posted. I hope it was as fun for you to read as it was for me to write._

_Thanks again to my wonderful and steady reviewers beth-rodrigues.77, link55-06 and BatOutOfHell-Madness. You gave me confidence that what I write is worth posting, so thanks, really, this means a lot to me._

_There is this one idea ghosting in my head of another BoB story, something quite different, but I have not figured out yet where I want to go with it. But it's possible that there will be another story up on this site soon and this was not the last time you've heard of me._

_Hope you enjoy the last chapter!_

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Nix woke up the next morning at about eleven, feeling more refreshed than he had in a long time. Getting up was really not such an ordeal with no headache and no cotton mouth. It made quite the difference. When he glanced over to the bed where Dick slept, he could see that his friend was still lying in the exact same position as he had passed out the night before, snoring softly. He probably had not even so much as twitched the whole night.

Deciding to let Dick get some more rest, Nix went for a shower and a shave, then stepped out on the balcony, lighting a cigarette. He was blinking lazily in the bright sun warming his face and he could hear the birds chirping merrily. The air smelt fresh and earthy. In the distance the mountains were looming, high tops still being covered with snow, and Nix could not help the deep feeling of awe coming over him at the view that presented itself to him. This really was a beautiful place and this morning had a feeling of peace to it that made everything seem dreamlike. Had they really just come out of this devastating war? It might as well have happened in another century, the blood and pain already faded into the realm of memories.

It was in that instant that Nix decided that he had all these years been wrong about mornings: he actually quite liked them.

Glancing at his watch, Nix realized that their meeting with Sink would start in less than two hours, which meant that he should slowly but surely get to the task of waking Dick. His friend might need the extra-time this morning to start functioning again. And if he was honest, Nix actually looked forward to waking him. Maybe his nanny had been right and there was a sadistic streak to him. Or maybe it was just sweet revenge for all the times he had been shaken awake at the most ungodly hours by a chipper-looking Dick.

He stepped back inside and dragged a chair to the bed of his friend, sitting down on it. Dick, who was normally a light sleeper, was still very much dead to the world.

"Dick. It's time to get up."

No reaction at all to that, his friend had not even stopped snoring.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty", Nix tried again, this time a bit more forcefully, shaking Dick's shoulder. "The sun is all up and the little birds want to sing along with you."

At least he got a grunt from his friend this time. That was a start.

"Dick, you should really get your ass up soon", Nix said, continuing to shake and prod his friend. "We don't have all that much time left until the meeting."

Nix got some more grumbling from his friend that might have been a "Get lost", but he could not be sure. It sounded quite rude, anyway. Then Dick reached sluggishly for the pillow and pulled it over his head.

"Oh no, you don't!", Nix stated, laughing, and tore the pillow away from Dick. "You're so lucky I don't have a jug of piss at hand."

"... leave me alone...", came the mumbled protest from Dick and he blindly tried to swat away Nix's hand that continued to shake him. "...you're making my head hurt."

"Your head will hurt anyway, it's called a hangover", Nix replied with a smirk, enjoying this way too much. "Only aspirin will cure it. But first you have to get up and showered. You smell like a liquor store."

"... need to sleep some more...", Dick muttered and tried to pull the blanket over his head, but Nix was quicker and the blanket soon joined the pillow on the floor.

"I don't think so", Nix disagreed. "You get up now or I'm going to get a bucket of cold water."

Two bloodshot eyes opened, then closed again. Dick moaned softly and lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the brightness of day. Nix saw that it was the hand his friend had cut yesterday. The bandage was all bloody, they would need to change the dressing or Sink would probably think that Dick had been in a bar fight.

"God, why is it so bright?", Dick asked hoarsely, squinting between his fingers at Nix

"Well, it might have something to do with the Earth rotating around the sun. I'm not sure. Ask Webster when you next see him", Nix answered sarcastically, then extended a hand to help Dick sit up. "Come on, up you go, you party animal."

With some more moaning and complaining, Nix finally got his friend to sit on the edge of the bed, threatening to slump back down at any moment. Dick had really seen better days. His eyes were all red, dark circles around them, and his face creased. Ginger stubble covered his jaw and even his bright red hair looked dull this morning.

"Dick, you look like shit."

"I hate you", was the muttered answer to that.

"That hurts", Nix replied lightly, standing up. "Only yesterday you told me what a good friend I am."

This earned him a dark look.

"I was wrong", Dick said gloomily, slowly getting up. He padded unsteadily to the bathroom and shut the door behind him. A few moments later, Nix heard the shower being turned on. He waited by the door until his friend was finished and stepped back out, freshly showered, shaved and dressed, but still looking rumpled. And, Nix realized, looking more than a little pissed off. Nix knew that something was coming when Dick advanced on him, a stormy look on his face.

Oh oh.

"You talked me into this!", his friend ground out, accusingly.

Damn it, Dick remembered.

"Come on, Dick", Nix tried to defend himself, brown eyes all innocent. "It was a fun evening. Yeah, you drunk a little bit too much, but that happens to others all the time. Look at the Noncoms, they're drunk almost every night. No big deal."

That was probably not what Dick had wanted to hear.

"No big deal?", his friend asked, now downright fuming. Nix had never seen him this mad. "I'm not a Sergeant, I'm a battalion leader, for Christ's sake! I embarrassed myself in front of my men. They're supposed to respect me, not laugh at me! Don't you get that?"

"I heavily doubt that they're not going to respect you anymore", Nix tried to pacify his enraged friend. "You've been with them for long enough, they won't perceive you differently after yesterday. I think you might be even more popular now. And Sink probably didn't even get that you were wasted."

"Colonel Sink?", Dick asked, suddenly quiet and definitely confused. Shit, Nix thought to himself, wincing, wrong thing to say.

"Oh no", Dick then groaned, slapping a hand to his face and letting himself sink down on the bed, obviously remembering again. "This is bad. This is really bad."

Nix sat down next to him, searching frantically for the right words to say to him.

"Dick. It was V-E Day yesterday, no one is going to judge you for celebrating. Maybe there will be some minor teasing from the men, but you'll survive. And in a few days no one will even remember it."

He was not sure if Dick had even heard him. His friend was staring off into nothingness, probably already seeing his stainless reputation crumbling to dust.

"Come, we're going to grab some coffee before the meeting", Nix tried to change the topic.

Dick just nodded faintly, getting up and scuffling after Nix like an old man. No word was spoken on their way to the local school gym, where breakfast was set out for the troops. Nix had tried to get through to his friend, even offering him his sunglasses when they had stepped out of the house and Dick had flinched painfully in the bright sunlight. But it was like getting an iceberg to melt. His friend had recovered somewhat from the shock of remembering, but had withdrawn into a frosty silence. Accusation lay so heavily in the air that Nix could almost grasp it with his fingers.

"I'm sorry, okay?", Nix exclaimed, not being used to apologies, but the silence starting to make him feel anxious. "Yeah, I wanted you to drink and loosen up, but I never wanted you to get this smashed. How could I know that it is even more difficult to get you to stop drinking than to start drinking?"

His apology was met with even more icy silence.

"Dick, you've got to believe me that I never intended any harm. I thought it would be funny, but I realize now it was a stupid idea. I'll never try anything like that again, alright?"

Nix had not known that Dick was so good at holding a grudge. His friend completely ignored him, not even deigning to look at him. Every now and then, they crossed soldiers from their companies on the street. Nix could see that some of them were on the brink of grinning, but no one dared to smile openly at Dick. It might have had something to do with the thunderous look on his friend's face that promised latrine duty for anyone foolish enough to aggravate him.

"You know that you'll eventually have to talk to me again, don't you?", Nix asked cautiously. "You can't just ignore me for the rest of our stay here in Europe."

"Would you just shut up for one moment, please", Dick replied irritably, shooting him one scathing look from blood-shot eyes, before going back to ignoring him.

Well, at least Dick was talking again. Maybe the hangover had something to do with his friend's suddenly short temper.

They reached the school gym and entered, Nix trailing after Dick. To say that the mood in the big hall was subdued would have been an understatement. Seeing the normally boisterous Easy men so quietly slumping on their benches and sipping their coffee made Nix smile. Seemed like others were suffering from hangovers as well.

When they were making their way down the eerily quiet rows of benches to the officer's table, there was suddenly a loud "Moooo!" to be heard from behind them, followed by half-suppressed sniggers. Nix saw Dick tense up, then turning around and searching for the culprit. Nix had quite a good guess who was responsible for it, but the faces of the men were all blank, except for a twitch of lips every now and then.

"One more cow imitation or other smartass comment and you're going to run Currahee", Dick threatened in a dangerously low voice, looking from one table to the other. "8'900 feet high Currahee. The whole company."

Even Nix thought that was harsh, but there was no way in hell he was going to comment on it. In the end he himself would have to run the mountain, considering Dick's mood. And it seemed that the Easy men did not want to find out if Dick was serious or not, because no one dared making a sound after that threat.

In total silence they made their way to the officer's table, where Harry, Lipton, Speirs and the young Lieutenant, Jones, were sitting. While the former three were obviously nursing their very own headaches, Jones, who had not been at the party, looked fresh and ready to pounce into action straight away. They looked up when Nix and Dick joined them, and Nix saw Harry giving a soft snort when glancing at Dick, but restraining any comment that must have burned on his tongue.

"Good morning", Nix greeted them, purposely a little louder than necessary, enjoying to see them wince, and sat down beside Harry. "What a beautiful day it is, with the sun shining brightly and all."

"Yeah, something like that", was the mumbled reply he received in return from Speirs, who currently competed with Dick for the title of most hung-over officer of the month. Jeez, they were the most sorry looking group of people Nix had seen in a long while.

"Good morning", came the vigorous response from Jones, sitting ramrod-straight on his bench and smiling brightly at Dick. Everyone knew the kid looked up to Dick with an almost religious fervor and worshipped the very ground he walked on. It was no big surprise, Dick was after all something like a stickler role model.

Dick, who had not said a word since they had sat down, just gingerly nodded a greeting in return, while massaging his forehead. Harry snorted again at that, receiving a short glare from Dick that was supposed to shut him up. But Harry had always been one more than ready to go looking for trouble.

"Slept well?", he asked Dick, a smirk threatening to break through.

Dick sent him another glare, refusing an answer.

"Major Winters?", Jones butted in significantly. "Since we will most probably go to war again in the pacific, I thought it would be good to start drills and PT as soon as possible. Some of the men seem to be in quite poor physical shape. I worked out a plan, that I would like to show you, how to improve..."

"Lieutenant Jones?", Dick interrupted him, frowning. "This discussion is undoubtedly important, but I'm sure I could listen to you more closely with a cup of coffee in front of me. Black, no sugar."

"Yeah, for me the same", Nix added, not wanting to miss the opportunity of the Lieutenant getting him coffee, too. At least something good came from Dick's sudden strike of tyranny, he thought, before Dick trashed even this small pleasure.

"No, just for me, Lieutenant Jones", his so called friend replied coolly, not looking at Nix. "Captain Nixon can get his own coffee."

The young lieutenant looked hesitantly at Dick, then nodded and got up from the table to get coffee.

"You two got a divorce over night?", Harry asked pryingly, picking up on the tension between Nix and Dick.

"Shut up, Harry", Dick told him tersely.

"Is it because you danced with someone else?", Harry continued his goading, smirking, then flinching, because it probably aggravated his headache.

"How would you like being reassigned? I think they're looking for a new mess officer", Dick replied threateningly.

"God, you're in a shitty mood, pulling rank on your friends!", Harry exclaimed, eyebrows arching. "I think I liked you better yesterday evening. Me and everyone else in this hall. Plus that German girl. Jeez, she couldn't get enough of you."

"Don't push it, Harry", Dick warned lowly, skewering Harry with a poisonous look.

The silence that followed was thicker than the mist in Bastogne. At least Harry had relieved Nix from top position on Dick's current most-hated-list. But conversation was difficult and no words were spoken, until Lieutenant Jones came back with coffee for Dick.

"What happened to your hand, sir?", Jones asked, after handing Dick his coffee and sitting down again.

Dick glanced long and hard at the young lieutenant, making him shift nervously on his bench.

"It was an accident", Dick finally decided to answer, although more than just a little reluctant, looking at his freshly dressed hand. "I slipped. No big deal."

"You should let Doc Roe have a look at it later", Nix risked piping in. "The cut is quite deep."

"It's fine, Nix", his friend replied brusquely, obviously trying to end the discussion.

"I'm just saying", Nix retorted, slowly getting annoyed with Dick's foul mood and accusatory stance. God, it was not as if he had _forced_ the alcohol down his friend's throat, he could have refused, after all. "It might become infected and you don't want to risk anything with your right hand."

"Yeah, you don't know how awkward it is, lifting your drink with your left hand", Harry provoked some more, not at all intimidated by Dick's murderous looks.

"Dick, please, just let someone look at it", Nix continued, trying to divert his friend's attention from thinking of the most painful ways to kill Harry. "Just to make sure everything's fine."

For one moment it looked like Dick was either going to snarl at Nix or explode at Harry, but then he suddenly paused and sighed deeply, slumping down on the bench.

"You're right, I'll go to Roe after the meeting", he replied softly, tiredly massaging his forehead. Then, after a short while, he added quietly, "God, this headache is killing me."

Nix smiled at that, knowing his friend well enough to recognize some small apology for his behavior behind this admission and to see him take a step towards reconciliation. That was why Nix thought it was the right time to rummage in his pocket and bring forth a small bottle of aspirin, putting it in front of Dick.

"Thank you", his friend murmured softly, taking out a pill and gulping it down with some coffee. Lieutenant Jones, apparently only now realizing what was going on, looked at Dick in such a disillusioned way as if someone had just told him that Santa Claus did not exist.

"Could you pass that bottle, please?", Speirs asked gruffly, with Lipton in the background nodding his head as well.

While Speirs took out a pill for himself, then passing the bottle to Lipton and Harry, he suddenly asked Nix, "How come you're so cheery and fresh today? Normally you're the one munching aspirin in the morning."

"You know", Nix drawled, "I realized that hangovers really suck. Head feeling all sore and pounding, eyes burning, stomach churning and all that. It's no fun at all. But I decided to come here this morning to convince myself that it is the right choice to drink more moderately. Just a shame my camera is broken, this would've been something to show to your grandchildren."

Speirs just shook his head to himself, probably already regretting that he had asked at all. But Harry smirked knowingly at Nix, being aware that only Nix's sense of responsibility concerning Dick had kept him from drinking last night. Nix tried to ignore the smirk, already regretting he had told Harry about it. Then he realized that Dick was looking at him from the side. Judging from the thoughtful look on his friend's face, Dick seemed to have a quite good guess of the real reasons for Nix's sudden bout of sobriety as well. However, before Dick could comment on his speculations, an orderly from regiment came to their table.

"Major Winters?", he addressed Dick busily, straining his chin in a manner that was meant to stress the importance of his message, but only looked ridiculous. "Colonel Sink expects you to meet him in HQ."

"Right now?", Dick asked, looking suspicious and now that Nix thought of it, a few shades paler than a moment before. "We have a meeting with him in 45 minutes."

"The Colonel wants to talk to you as soon as possible. Before the meeting and alone", the orderly stressed.

"Alright, tell him I'll be there in a few minutes", Dick answered faintly and the orderly nodded jerkily, then turned on his heels to march back to HQ.

Nix bit his lips worriedly and tried to catch his friend's gaze to give him a supportive nod, but the act of drinking his coffee suddenly seemed to require all of Dick's attention.

"What's that all about?", Harry pried, looking from Dick to Nix and back. "Did we miss something?"

"Might have something to do with Sink's tulips...", Nix answered slowly, being unable to bite back the comment.

"Tulips?", Lipton asked, having followed the conversation as closely as the others at their table.

"Nothing. It's certainly nothing", Dick tried to disperse their curiosity, while subtly shaking his head at Nix. "And it weren't actually _his_ tulips..."

"Come on, spill it!", Harry tried again, smelling a good story.

"Well, it's not really about tulips, more about what Dick did to them...", Nix continued, but a warning look from his friend shut him up. "I'm sorry, Harry, but I can't tell you. I'm a bit worried about Dick smothering me with a pillow in my sleep if I do. Maybe later..."

But his friend was still shaking his head vehemently and Nix sighed, "Nope, probably never. Pity, it was such a good story."

"Aw, come on", Harry whined.

"No, forget it", Dick answered, emptying his mug of coffee, then getting up. "Be glad you'll be working in the kitchen soon. You'll be right where you belong, hearing all the gossip to your heart's delight."

Harry just looked at Dick with a long gaze.

"You're joking, right?", Harry asked with a smile, but there was a tiny bit of uncertainty in his voice. "You don't have the authority to demote me to mess officer... Do you?"

Dick just smiled back, but not in a good way. It was rather creepy.

"Dick...", Nix spoke up sincerely, while Harry was still pondering if Dick was serious or not. "I'm sorry, really. I hope everything will turn out alright."

He did not care about the others at the table hearing him, even geeky Jones. He had needed to get that out before his friend went to his appointment with Sink. Maybe this meeting was not even about Dick getting drunk and puking into the Colonel's garden, but about something else. However, Nix still wanted to make sure that everything was alright between Dick and him.

"It's okay", his friend told him with the tiniest of smiles, then making an attempt to leave, but turning back around. "But Nix?"

"Yeah?"

"You're done hiding your booze in my footlocker."

Nix felt a big grin trying to split his face.

"I see", he answered, wickedly. "Afraid you couldn't resist the temptation?"

Dick gave him a long and aggravated look, prompting Nix to raise his hands in defeat.

"Alright, alright", Nix laughingly revoked. "It's still too fresh to joke about."

While Dick made his way down the rows of benches towards the exit of the gym, Harry asked into the round again, now definitely worried, "He can't reassign me to kitchen duty, can he?"

Nix was about to answer when he saw Dick suddenly reach out a hand and slap Luz on the back of his head, then walking on as if nothing had happened.

"Ow!", Luz complained, rubbing his head. "What was that for?"

"If the dominant cow starts acting up, soon the whole herd will follow in her steps", Dick answered loudly, but absolutely deadpan and without even turning around. "Just watching my cattle, Luz, just watching my cattle."

The laughter followed Dick to the door and Nix found himself smiling with them.

-Z Ändi- -The End-


End file.
